This round table will offer the possibility to discuss about social cohesion, active inclusion as well as the role of social service providers in the Western Balkans in promoting social progress. Members of the “IRIS Network – Improving social services in SEE” will present their daily work in the context of EU Enlargement policies. In addition, the results of the FEPS-SOLIDAR research program on the Social Dimension of EU Enlargement will be launched.

Europe has been faced with one of the worst economic, financial and social crises. The one-sided focus on fiscal and financial consolidation through austerity measures has led to increasing disparities within our society, hitting the most vulnerable groups the hardest. NOW it is time for social consolidation to increase social cohesion between and within Member States.

This roundtable will give the floor to a discussion between experts from several Member States and decision makers at EU level on the mid-term review of the Europe 2020 Strategy and to present national recommendations to promote active inclusion, cohesion and social progress. These recommendations will be based on the results of the Social Progress Watch Initiative that SOLIDAR launched in December 2013 and the baseline-study Ensure Social Progress: Recommendations to strengthen the social dimension of the European Union.

One of the first activities in the project was to develop a baseline study which will present legal and institutional framework for the provision of social welfare services by civil society organizations and their role in providing these services in the region of the Western Balkans. The study is based on desk-analysis and series of semi-structured interviews with the stakeholders from CSOs and public institutions from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Kosovo and Serbia.

BIH

In Federation of BiH social protection is the primarily in jurisdiction of the specific entities and cantons. A whole range of entity and cantonal laws are regulating this area. Also, the Brcko District has its own jurisdiction, but not the public institutions of social protection.

In Bosnia and Herzegovina there are 117 public social work centers which employ 1087 workers..

There are no clear data on the number of CSOs in B&H working in the field of social service delivery. Nevertheless, it is estimated that 1/3 of 4629 active CSO in B&H are working in the field of social service delivery. Out of total funds reallocated from the government to CSO in B&H, CSOs engaged in social protection field received only 9% of the funds, which makes about 4 millions Euros. In addition, international donors invested 2.9 millions Euros in CSOs providing social services. Official data on how much the public institution are investing in the sector of social policy, apart from donations, is not clear or does not exists.

Republika Srpska

According to the regulations of Republika Srpska, work in the area of social pro­tection may also be carried out by NGOs. Rights implemented by the provision of services to beneficiaries can also be exercised in partnership between the public, private and nongovernmental sectors. There are 45 CSW, 20 social work services and 9 institutions in Republika Srpska. Unfortunately, there are only isolated examples of CSOs delivering social services in Republika Srpska.

CROATIA

New Social Welfare Act of 2014 in Croatia stipulates that NGOs may provide services if they have a license for that, introducing the system of service ordering and service provider licensing.

Somewhere between 20 and 30 million EUR is allocated annually for social services in Croatia. One third of these funds are allocated by cities and counties, approximately 36% by the ministries and the Government, and the remaining part is from international donors.

Local self-governments play an important role in financing, planning and implementing social welfare services. The community social welfare services are mainly funded through short-lived projects. Those services are provided by NGOs, local and regional self-governments, homes and Red Cross braches. The Croatian NGO sector is dominated by small-sized organizations with few employees and budget below EUR 13,000.

KOSOVO

The Constitution of Kosovo concentrates more on human rights and freedoms, then on issues of social justice and a state of welfare. Much more attention is devoted to gender equality and protection from discrimination, but issues of social justice and the welfare state.

Thus, the system of Kosovo legitimizes the typical liberal values, unlike the rest of the region, which still cherishes the tradition of European social democracy. The Line ministry has a underdeveloped capacity to administer the social welfare.

Process of decentralization has given municipalities great authorizations in the healthcare and social welfare areas. As a rule, Issues relating to health care generally have precedence over social welfare.

Municipalities can contract the provision of social welfare services and family protection services to NGOs. The NGO sector develops under the influence of donors. There is ample data indicating that it is not well-rooted in civil society. 80% of funds for civil society come from international sources, and about 8% from budget funds. As in other countries, dependence on donors has led to the fact that NGOs, in their work, reflect donor interests rather than the interests of the citizens and communities they are supposed to represent

NGOs complain of the weak technical capacity of public services, which is an obstacle to cooperation. There are no efficient mechanisms of cooperation between public and non-governmental sectors.

The role of NGOs dealing with victims of domestic violence and people with disabilities is significant. The latter are less engaged in providing services, compared to organization of sporting and cultural events and advocacy work. However, there is no systematic data on local social welfare services, both in the state and in the NGO sector.

MONTENEGRO

Montenegrin Law on Social Welfare introduced a licensing system of service providers (organizations and individuals, i.e. professionals). According to this system, all licensed organizations can deliver social services in the local communities. Nevertheless, licensing system is not functional yet.

Non-governmental organizations are financed from the central lottery fund and from the local government. Total allocations for NGOs in the 2011th amounted to about 1.5 million, which is three times less than in 2010.

In Montenegro, there are 275 local social welfare services. The largest number of identified local social welfare services addresses children, the elderly, children and persons with disabilities. The majority of non-governmental organizations are dealing with children, persons with disabilities, persons with development disabilities, victims of violence, young people, etc. The focus of the public sector is on children, the elderly and children with disabilities. The main difference is the openness of the NGO sector to “non-traditional” user groups.

Almost 80% of all local social welfare services in Montenegro are provided by NGOs.

SERBIA

Social services are divided into two groups under the Law on Social Services: (1) assessment and planning, and (2) service of direct social work that originate from the assessment of beneficiaries needs – daily services in the community (daily care, help in the house, etc.). services of the support for independent living (for example, supported housing, personal assistance, training for independent life, etc.), counseling-therapeutic and social-educational services (support for families in crisis, counseling, family therapy, mediation, SOS hotlines, etc.) and services of accommodation.

The social protection system consists of centers for social work, institutions for the accommodation of beneficiaries and other facilities (shelters, intake centers etc.) as well as NGOs that deal with the provision of services. Centers for social work which are funded by central and local budgets have the most important role in the social welfare system.

Centers for social work are overburdened with administrative work and have less time to work with beneficiaries and the community. At the same time CSW is de facto an institution that deals with coordinating and planning protection for municipalities.

Serbia has updated information on the level of development of services that demonstrate that local services are relatively developed, but there are significant regional disparities.

Home help for the elderly is the most common services. It was followed by daycare centers for children and youth with disabilities. Each municipality has a program of one-off financial assistance. Developed municipalities have developed social services.

NGO sector in Serbia is dominated by small organizations relaying on volunteer work.

NGOs do not have adequate professional capacities in the social welfare area yet. They often relay on professionals from centers or institutes for the accommodation of beneficiaries for the demanding professional tasks.

In the last couple of years, the share of foreign financing is growing.

29 % of all local social services are provided by NGOs.

http://iris-see.eu/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Comparative-Analysis-of-the-Role-of-Civil-Society-in-Providing-Social-Welfare.jpg450740http://iris-see.eu/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/logo.png2014-04-01 12:46:212015-01-15 12:50:56Comparative Analysis of the Role of Civil Society in Providing Social Welfare…

SOSTelephone for WomenandChildren Victims of Violence– Podgorica(SOS Podgorica) in collaborationwith the Ministry ofLabor and Social Welfare, held a roundtable discussion with the topic “Providing of social services to the most vulnerable groups: Challenges & Opportunities in the implementation of new Law on Social and Child Protection” on Friday, 28thMarchof 2014 in PR Center Podgorica

Over 50 participants including members of National Network, representatives of UNICEF, UNDP, Ministry of Laborand Social Welfare, Social Welfare Centers and media discussed main problems in implementation of the new Law on Social and Child Protection.

BiljanaZeković, director of SOSTelephone Podgorica, Montenegrocoordinator, opened round table introducing IRIS network and National Network of Montenegro.” Network consists of30credibleorganizations that deal withprovidingsupport to children,youth,the elderly, victims ofdomestic violence, persons withdisabilitiesand migrants. Great interestof a large numberof organizations and institutions for our Network speaks about the importance ofthis topic andhow strong are the initiativesfornetworking and cooperationof all sectors” said Zekovic.

In the opinion of Predrag Boskovic, Minister of Labor and Social Welfareof the Governmentof Montenegro, the Law on Social and Child Protection in Monetengro isbetter than thelaws that applyin the region and thattodaythe socialand child protectionis improving each year. “Ifwe want to havequality socialandchild protectionin Montenegro, it isimpossible to separatestate responsibilityand accountabilityof NGOs. In order to achieve the bestresultsit is necessarythat there is good communicationbetweenthemand based on that to identify problems andwork together to resolve them” said Boskovic.

BenjaminPerks, UNICEF Representativeto Montenegro, thinks thatreform of the socialwelfare systemshould includefive steps. The firststep is toreformthe legal framework, the second is to strengthen theinstitutional framework, the third isto build the capacityof providersof social services, the fourthincrease in the numberof day care centers, untilnow there isonlyeight day care centers in municipalitiesof Montenegro and thefifthstep is tochangebehavior andattitudes towardsinclusion ofchildren withdisabilities. He emphasized theenormouscontribution of civilsociety to reform ofsocial and child protection.

RastislavVrbenski, UN Resident CoordinatorandUNDP Resident Representativein Montenegro, saidthat a comprehensivereform of thesocial welfareis oneof the keyundertakingsof the Government inthe ongoing process ofEUintegration. In his opinion,the Ministry of Laborand Social Welfareis making greateffortsto improve thelegal and institutionalpre-conditionsnecessaryforthe harmonization ofinternational standards andbest practices from theregion and the EuropeanUnion. Vrbenskisaid that theUNDPandUNICEFin this area will stillprovide​​technical supportwith specialemphasis on thedevelopment and adoption ofa series of ordinancesthat need to: provideadequate implementation ofthe newly adopted Lawon Socialand Child Protection, the formationof the Institutefor Social andchild welfare, the establishment ofthe Directoratefor the developmentof socialand child protection.

Public debate was held in National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia at Friday, 7th of March 2014.
Main topic of discussion was “Perspectives on Sustainability of funding support to children and vulnerable groups beneficiaries of social services”. The debate was organized by member of IRIS Network “Educational Center” Leskovac, “Society for the Development of Children and Youth – Open Club” in collaboration with the Government Office for Cooperation with Civil Society.

The aim of the conference was to encourage a consensus among decision-makers, experts and civil society around the needs of effective coordination and use of available local resources and future EU funds earmarked for social inclusion of vulnerable and marginalized groups.

Public debate was opened by National Assembly Speaker Nebojsa Stefanovic, after which Mr Michel Saint-Lot, UNICEF Serbia Representative, greeted the present. Among the key speakers were: Gordan Velev, IRIS-regional networks of social service providers, Sasa Stojanovic – MODS Association for the Development of Children and Youth Outdoor Club, Brankica Jankovic, State Secretary, Ministry of Labor and Social Policy, Ivana Cirkovic, Director of the Government Office for Cooperation with NGOs, Marija Sijan, the Fund for the social inclusion of children, Zarko Šunderić, SIPRU Fund for Inclusion, Milena Banovic, Government Office for cooperation with Civil society organizations.

Hall of the National Assembly was filled with around one hundred representatives of NGOs that deal with social service provision and over 20 journalists from different media houses from Serbia. Some of the most important and popular media informed public about the event, and we raised important questions about social services and child protection in wider public in Serbia.

CSO representatives from all around the Serbia had chance to emphasize their biggest problems and concerns and also to ask questions to government representatives. Owing to the huge interest for this event and important topic we discussed, many people didn’t have a chance to participate. Because of that we had had live stream of the debate and also live twitter chat in which people could ask questions and give comments to speakers in the debate.

Open debate in Kosovo was organized 13th February 2014. in Governmental Building of Kosovo. Around 50 present representatives from Government, Local Institutions and non-governmental organizations that deal with the provision of social services discussed on the main topic “The role of institutions and non-governmental organizations in providing social services and their challenges”.
Biggest part of the discussion was related to domestic violence, which remains a serious problem in Kosovo, with about 420 cases already having been reported this year. On average, the police registers somewhere around 1,000 such complaints per year and the majority of those reporting it, 4 out of 5, are women. According to Naime Sherifi, executive director of the Centre for Protection of Women and Children, the centre has sheltered some 881 victims of domestic violence since 2000. She further adds that “the situation is troubling” and that six to ten women die each tear due to spousal abuse. Despite boasting a female president and gender quotas in the parliament, Kosovo is still very much a patriarchal society where women are mostly responsible for the home and children. Women also tend to have an average of two years less education than men and are faced with a staggering unemployment rate of 30.9 %.

“Laws related to social services scheme in Kosovo should be subject to increased monitoring associated with determining the level of their application by the relevant state institutions” was one of the main recommendations made on this debate.

Meeting for interested organizations from region of Slavonija, Baranja and Middle Dalmacija took place in town Osjek on 25th of December. In inaugural meeting 33 representatives of organizations engaged in the development and delivery of various types of social services discussed of and established Croatian National network.

Education Center Leskovac( EDC) organized meeting for establishment of Serbian network of CSOs on 15th of December. They named new network Konekta and it is opened to all interested service providers. Through this project , members of the network Konekta will receive expert support through active , mutual learning and exchange of experiences (peer review method ) and direct mentoring support in the following areas : minimum standards of social protection , licensing organizations and individuals for provision of social services and the accreditation of training programs , entry criteria and priorities of beneficiaries receiving social care, control of the organization and services , monitoring and evaluation, etc.

To make this network more efficient and visible EDC made website ( http://konekta.org/) with all partner organizations.

The Regional Network meeting took place on 9th and 10th of December 2013, in Belgrade , at Palace of Serbia. The thematic topic of this meeting was “Promoting Active Inclusion and Social Cohesion in the Western Balkans and Building of network of CSO providers of social services” . The event was organized by the Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund (ASB), the Social Inclusion and Poverty Unit Serbia, the Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS) and SOLIDAR, Belgium.

The event was attended by representatives from the Civil and Governmental sectors from South Eastern Europe and the EU next to the presentation of the findings of the Baseline Study encompassed panel discussions with relevant stakeholders on Active Inclusion and Social Cohesion in South Eastern Europe.

SOS Telephone for Women and Children Victims of Violence – Podgorica organized an inaugural event for the National Network of Civil Society Organizations that provides social services in Montenegro on 30th of November in Podgorica.
Before the meeting of these CSO’s, SOS Podgorica organized a public call for CSO’s that wants to be the members of national network in Montenegro. Response was great and SOS Podgorica needed to select only most committed and valuable organizations. They made full application form and afterward rang list of those who passed as suitable for this project.

The meeting was attended by representatives of 25 civil society organizations providing social services in one of the five key areas: elderly care, care for persons with disabilities, gender-based and domestic violence, support to children and youth at risk and migrants, including all vulnerable groups affected by voluntary or forced migration. Organizations from Montenegro showed a high level of interest in becoming members of the Network and it was concluded at the inaugural meeting that the doors of the Network should remain open for newcomers and that the strategy and activities should be ambitious and go broader then planned by the “mother project”.